Product Description

A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year

Nesta Gwynn has always known that her parents are different. She thinks it's because they're from Boston instead of the little town in England where Nesta was born and where she's always lived. But at the age of twelve, Nesta discovers that her parents aren't really from Boston. In fact, they're not from Earth. They're aliens from the planet Ormingat, and -- even though she was born on Earth -- Nesta is an alien, too.

AR (For ages 10 and up)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4440987 in Books
• Published on: 2003-09-02
• Format: Large Print
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 331 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Like its predecessor, Space Race, Sylvia Waugh's whimsical yet thought-provoking fantasy Earthborn chronicles the doings of visitors from the enlightened planet Ormingat. Nesta Gwynn, a 12-year-old living in northern England, has grown up believing her parents are from Boston, but after the publicity surrounding the disappearance of a father and son (the protagonists of Space Race), she learns the truth that the Gwynns came from Ormingat and that she, Nesta, is destined to return with them. Can she manage to stay on Earth? Ages 10-up.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 4-7-When 12-year-old Nesta, who thinks her mother and father come from Boston, finds out that they are really from the planet Ormingat, she is horrified. Even worse, her parents must leave Earth in just a few days, which means that she must go, too, to a planet that she has never seen and into an alien body. If they are not on the spaceship by the deadline, they must stay on Earth forever, so Nesta runs away, gambling that her parents will not depart without her. Set in England, this independent sequel to Space Race (Delacorte, 2000) is science fiction, but it is first and foremost a complex and absorbing look at three people struggling with a difficult and highly secret situation. Nesta is masterfully drawn, full of resolve even when terrified. Her mother and father, who have a dilemma every bit as anguishing as hers, are fascinating people in their own right, as is the girl's friend Amy. Every moment is magical in this enthralling book about the meaning of home.
Eva Mitnick, Los Angeles Public Library
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Gr. 4-6. The biggest problem Nesta has faced is a school-yard bully--until the day her parents reveal that they are aliens and they must return to their home planet, Ormingat. Born and raised in England, Nesta understandably thinks of Earth as her home, and she concocts a plan to ensure that she and her parents stay there. Counting on love to keep her parents from boarding the spacecraft, she runs away and hides out until after the launch date. At intervals, the story loosely intertwines with its "companion book," Space Race (2000), but it can be read separately. The methodical plot and its understated emotional core are at the heart of a book that bears some relation to Waugh's Mennyms series in which living, human-size dolls are a different sort of alien, existing as unobtrusively as possible in modern England. An original and involving, if somewhat slow paced, addition to fiction collections. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

A Delightful Read
Imagine thinking that you were a normal twelve-year-old girl living in England with your parents, leading a very normal life. You know that you are somewhat different than your peers because you refuse to fight off the school bullies, nor will you tell on them. Suddenly, and without warning, your parents divulge the shocking news that, though you were born on earth, they actually come from a faraway planet. It will take three years to travel there in a golf ball-size spaceship and you must all leave in seven days!
Nesta, the protagonist, at first thinks her parents are playing a joke on her, then is shocked when it becomes obvious that what she's hearing and seeing is the truth. She quickly comes to the realization that she is earth-born and has absolutely no desire to leave her home to live in a strange new world. She devises a plan which will make her unavailable when the deadline arrives. She becomes worried that her parents, who have strong ties to their home planet, will leave without her, but this doesn't stop her from knowing that she can never make the journey with them.
This story contains the elements of secrets, suspense, the strong forces of love, and the meaning of true friendship. It is written in the style of English prose and uses the vernacular of that country. It may be difficult for young readers to discern the meaning of some words that are of distinctly British origin without help from an adult, but the story is worth the effort.
Earthborn, written by British author Sylvia Waugh, is a good read for adults and for children ages nine and up who are on the verge of wanting to be independent, yet are still young enough to need the ties that bind them to their parents.
I read this book without first having read the companion book Space Race. I did not get the feeling that I had missed anything, but I now find myself anxious to read that book as well as the Mennyms series. Sylvia Waugh has just landed another fan in me, and I will recommend this book to other avid readers of childrens' books.

A Marvellous Page Turner
I am told that the late Edward Gorey listed the British children's book author Sylvia Waugh as one of his favorite authors. Waugh's highly original books have received critical acclaim and numerous awards in Europe. There are translations in many languages, including Japanese. How her work has escaped best seller status in the United States, especially with our emphases on humor and spirituality, is a puzzle to me except that here book sales tend to depend so much on marketing. We on amazon.com should have word of mouth on this author, though.

Waugh has followed up her charming, mysterious, wise, and psychologically and spiritually resonant Mennyms series with an "aliens" series concerning beings from Ormingat who take human form to study Earth, not for invasion or any malevolent reason (Ormingat is a place of peaceful love and beauty) but simply out of curiosity, and perhaps to divine what ails us. Underlying themes, as in the Mennyms books, include the nature of identity, spirituality, and family relationships, but as allusive as in classic fairy tales, yet the books are real page turners that leave me reading too fast at times because I can't wait to see what happens.

"Earthborn" is the first follow-up to "Space Race," and while "Earthborn" could easily be read and understood on its own, the enjoyment would be enhanced by starting with "Space Race." The two books are cleverly interwoven, as in the Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket series. In "Earthborn," young teenager Nesta discovers that in fact her kindly, ordinary-seeming parents are not from Boston, as they always said, but from Ormingat, having arrived (like other Ormingatrig) in a spaceship the size and shape of a golf ball. Nesta's destiny may lie not in her quiet British home- and school-life, with her love of reading and her best friend Amy, but elsewhere . . .

Waugh is described on the book jacket as a retired teacher, and her books shine with her kindly understanding of children. Her immersion in the child's world and concerns is, like the characters, so vibrant. There are also points so laugh-out-loud funny that I had tears in my eyes (but I don't want to give anything away).

Thankfully, unlike in the Harry Potter books, no editor has "Americanized" Waugh's books, so that we have complete access in the U.S. editions to all the charm of British English.

I read these books as an adult and so treasure them. I just can't wait for the next installment in the current series! The children to whom I have given Waugh's books love as much as I do, and I highly, highly recommend "Earthborn" and Waugh's other books to children and adults alike. Like the best literature, it's entertainment PLUS.

Earthborn
Do you ever think you must be from another planet? That is what Nesta thinks. This is a science-fiction story set in England about a girl who finds out that she is an alien. She comes from afar away planet called Ormingat. The only reason Nesta's family is leaving Earth is because of a disappearance of a boy and his father. Nesta's family thinks that they are from Ormingat too.
The main characters are Nesta ,Alison (the mom) and Matthew (the dad). Nesta is a normal 12 year old with unusual problems. Alison (Mom) is normal too. She works at the university as in assistant. Matthew (Dad) is normal as well. Every year he has to leave an a `business trip'.
Nesta would not listen to her parents that she was from another planet. She thinks that her parents are lying... but they aren't. Nesta is trying all her best to miss the dead line to the trip to Ormingat. Will her parents leave with out her? Read this story and find out. I recommend this book to young and old science fiction readers.